Documents relating to Prince Harry’s US visa application have been unsealed in court – but with heavy redactions over fears he would be exposed to “harm and harassment”.
A US court had ordered the release of the documents based on a freedom of information request by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative US think tank in Washington DC, who alleged that the Duke of Sussex concealed past drug when moving to the US in 2020, which should have disqualified him from obtaining a visa.
The claims centre around revelations in Prince Harry’s 2023 memoir Spare, in which he wrote about having previously taken cocaine, cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms, in 2020.
The foundation argued that Prince Harry’s right to privacy was outweighed by an “intense public interest” in whether he received special treatment during the application process when moving with his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, after they stepped down as senior royals.
Application forms for US visas specifically ask about current and past drug use. Admissions of drug use can lead to rejection, although immigration officers have discretion to make a final decision.
In the book, Prince Harry wrote that he first tried cocaine at the age of 17. "It wasn't much fun, and it didn't make me particularly happy, as it seemed to make everyone around me, but it did make me feel different, and that was the main goal," he added. He also wrote about using marijuana, saying "cocaine didn't do anything for me", but "marijuana is different, that actually really did help me".
In September last year, Judge Carl Nichols ruled in favour of the DHS and said public interest did not outweigh Prince Harry’s right to privacy. But in a reversal last week, Judge Nichols ordered the government to file redacted versions of the prince’s application documents to the court docket by the end of Tuesday.
In the event, very little information was disclosed in the documents which were released. No details have been given as to what Prince Harry put on his immigration form. The documents released are supporting declarations and court transcripts created in the course of Heritage Foundation's case. They run to some 80 pages, with half of them redacted.
A chief freedom of information officer within the US Department for Homeland Security (DHS) argues in the documents that releasing Prince Harry’s visa documents "would potentially expose the individual to harm from members of the public".
The declaration from Jarrod Panter, submitted to the court in April last year, reads: "The USCIS [United States Citizenship and Immigration Services] routinely protects from disclosure the non-immigrant/immigrant status sought by third parties who do not have permission from the beneficiary to receive this information.
"To release such information would potentially expose the individual to harm from members of the public who might have a reason to manipulate or harass individuals depending on their status in the United States."
"To release his exact status could subject him to reasonably foreseeable harm in the form of harassment as well as unwanted contact by the media and others," he added.
Neither Prince Harry nor The Heritage Foundation could immediately be reached for comment.
President Donald Trump said last month he would not deport Harry, “I’ll leave him alone,” he reportedly said. “He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”
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